A Touch of Destiny
by mezzogal
Summary: Prove the medium is a fraud and win a bag of gold. What could be easier for two Shadowhunters? But Will and Jem find more than they bargained for when things go very wrong.
1. Chapter 1

**Thank you so much for picking my story to read! It pales in comparison with Lady Midnight (have you guys read it yet? isn't it awesome?) but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I'll update weekly. Please review! :D**

 **To set the scene: Summer, 1876, London**

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1.

"Terror In Twickenham!" screamed the cover of The Inquirer that Will Herondale was perusing at the newsstand. Underneath, in smaller letters, it explained: "Mrs Molly Richmond recalls night of horror when a monster invaded her garden. 'He was right there, standing among my hydrangeas,' says Mrs Richmond." To finish off the cover was a sketch of a trembling Mrs Richmond, wearing a checked dress and apron, and pointing to a flattened patch of shrubs.

"Are you ready to go, Will?" Jem Carstairs asked, tucking a copy of the respectable The Times under his arm.

Will looked up at his parabatai and grinned. "Sure. I will get this," he said, indicating the magazine that still lay open in his hands. Jem shook his head indulgently and paid the news agent for the two publications.

Since Will had his nose buried deep in the lurid tales that the magazine promoted, Jem had to grab him by the elbow and guide him along, carefully navigating the crowd that bustled around them. It was a rare sunny day in London and, like the boys, most people seemed to be taking advantage of the good weather to go out of doors.

Jem pulled Will across the street, dodging carriages and horses, to get to the quieter surrounds of Hyde Park. The park was just as crowded as usual, but at least there were no merchants loudly hawking their wares and rudely pushing various trinkets into one's face in the hopes of enticing a customer. Here, a man quietly pushed around a cart offering tea, lemonade and ginger ale, while a young girl discreetly carried baskets of flowers for sale. It was the picture of gentility.

The boys found a spot under a tree that had not been claimed by picnickers and sat down. Will was still deep in his magazine, so Jem opened his newspaper and browsed. There were editorials about the dangers of electric lighting and news about the enhancement of the recently invented telephone system and underground train systems. There was nothing, however, which would be of interest or relevance to a Shadowhunter.

Jem gave up and folded up his newspaper, laying it carefully to the side. He stretched out his legs and leaned against the tree, indulging in a little people-watching. With his Nephilim eyes, he also spotted a few small pixies frolicking near a bush. They were a little too close to a mundane couple, but as long as they ventured no closer, Jem decided he would leave them be.

After some time, he grew bored of people-watching. He turned to Will. "Anything interesting in that gossip rag, Will?" he asked.

Will looked up in surprise, as though only now realising that they were no longer at the newsstand. "Plenty of interesting things," he replied. "For instance, did you know that Mr Alexander Peel visited the Crystal Palace and foresaw that giants would rise out of the Welsh hills to conquer England? He is, even now, attempting to put together an expedition to kill these giants before they can arrive and wreak havoc and turn England into a wasteland for the Welsh to invade. I might go join them, if Charlotte lets me; I've always been curious about what's in those hills. Or I might strangle Mr Peel for all the insults he's hurling at my beloved country."

Again, Jem shook his head. "Anything in there that has a shred of truth in it?" he rephrased his question.

Will grinned cheekily. "All the stories are true, James," he reminded.

"And some are more true than others," Jem added. "Is there any hint of a demon sighting? I could do with some activity."

"Sitting in the sunshine too dull for you?" Will quipped. "Perhaps you would like to investigate this: Mr Thomas Batty claims that he has found a medium who can truly channel the spirits of the dead and is offering a bag of gold to anyone who can prove otherwise."

"Worse case, a demon is unleashed in that séance. Best, we get a bag of gold," Jem observed sleepily.

"I could do with some gold," Will mused thoughtfully. "I've got a few debts to settle before someone decides they'd rather have some of my fingers instead."

"Oh, William, not again!" Jem exclaimed exasperatedly. "Charlotte has told you repeatedly not to visit those gambling dens."

"Did I say I went to the gambling dens?" Will retorted. "I was referring to my drinks tab and also to the time when I lost the bet that Saucy Marie was wearing lots of padding inside her corset. I was a fool to bet against her in the first place. Trust me, you don't want to get on the wrong side of Saucy Marie."

"Who on earth is Saucy Marie?"

"I forget, you wouldn't know her. You would probably be scandalised to even know about her. Let me tell you, that is one handsome woman," Will reminisced. " _Body of a woman, white hills, white thighs, you look like a world, lying surrender. My rough peasant's body digs in you and makes the son leap from the depth of the earth._ "

Jem grimaced at his recitation. "I find it difficult to believe a single word you say sometimes."

"Really? Which word? Allow me to clarify it for you."

Jem did not deign to reply, for fear of further feeding Will's madness. He reached over and plucked the magazine out of Will's hands. He flipped it open randomly, and his eyes fell on the paragraph where Mrs Richmond was describing the monster that had invaded her garden and destroyed her hydrangeas. "'He looked human, but not like any man I have ever seen. Tall, he was, and green, like a snake from head to toe,' she recounted. 'Even the thought of it makes me shudder. What could he possibly want? Why did he come to me?'

"This reporter can attest that something had indeed visited Mrs Richmond's prize-winning garden that night. With my own hands, I discovered a scrap of dirty cloth among the remains of the hydrangeas. Is this evidence of an other-worldly visitor? The police, as is common in their incompetence, have so far refused to follow up on the night-time intruder…"

The report went on to berate the police and urge the public not to panic and to contact the magazine should anyone have further encounters.

Jem impatiently tossed the magazine back to Will, who caught it deftly despite barely looking up. "I think we would have the best chance of action by attending the séance," Jem decided. "The rest seems like nonsense; pure attention-seeking babble, and hardly worth our time."

"Does this mean I can start making plans for that bag of gold?" Will asked eagerly. Jem grabbed his newspaper and, laughing, pummelled Will with it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks you! to all those who reviewed, favourited or followed my story. *huge virtual hugs***

 **Here's the next chapter, where the action really starts. Hope you like it. Please review!**

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2.

"Damn these mundanes," Will cursed as he surveyed the damage in the room. Body parts were littered everywhere and blood soaked the walls in areas that had not been scorched by fire. "My shoes are ruined. There's nothing that will get this much blood out of the leather."

"I've summoned the Enclave, though I'm quite sure there's nothing they can do about this," Jem reported.

Just an hour earlier, the boys had arrived at the house of Mr Thomas Batty, who had declared in The Inquirer magazine that he would be holding a séance and offering a bag of gold to anyone who could prove his medium was a fraud. Will and Jem had decided to attend, out of boredom.

Quite a number of mundanes had shown up and the house seemed filled to capacity. Indeed, one could not move about without bumping into someone else. So, when it came time for the actual séance, it was a tight squeeze and almost impossible for most of the attendees to watch the action. Will and Jem were pushed right to the back and pinned against the wall. They could see nothing except the backs of other people's heads.

This was why they were slow to react when they heard the screams. They smelled the sulphur first but had thought nothing of it, dismissing the scent as a mixture of the heavy perfumes the women around them wore and the food that had been served earlier. Then they saw wisps of smoke rising up to the ceiling. Again, they thought this was a special effect that the medium conjured up for the event. So, when the screaming started, they thought it was just another reaction to the medium's good acting skills.

Will was the first to realise something was wrong when the jostling became panicked and frantic. He pushed through the crowd, which was surging in the other direction, and jumped onto someone's shoulders. He pulled out his seraph blade, yelling "Narcariel!" as he soared above the throng and leaped from shoulder to shoulder to move above the stampede.

Two Achaieral demons had materialised in the centre of the room, right where the séance was taking place. Their dark leathery wings filled the space and were black holes within the darkness. Their blade-like talons and razor-sharp teeth flashed like lightning. Already, the six people seated around the table with the medium had been ripped apart.

Will saw Jem attempting to open the doors to let the people out. He saw the flash of the stele as Jem drew an Opening rune. But the doors remained stubbornly shut. "Leave it!" Will yelled. Jem seemed to understand and moved to join his parabatai, preparing his own seraph blade as he did so. Hellhounds suddenly appeared, adding to the terror.

The boys fought as only Shadowhunters could. They tried hard to protect the mundanes, but they were only two against the horde of demons. It was a massacre. Blood and body parts flew everywhere.

"Will, the medium!" Jem shouted, pointing at the medium who was, surprisingly still intact. The woman, dressed in a purple dress embroidered with stars and moons and wearing a large yellow turban with a gaudy jewelled ankh pinned on it, seemed to be in a trance. Her eyes had turned pure black and her lips were moving, keeping the spell going.

Will struggled with a particularly vicious Hellhound. Jem grabbed a piece of broken glass and flung it, striking the creature square in its back. It was not enough to kill it, but it was distracted long enough for Will to roll away and get close to the medium. He plunged his seraph blade into her chest. The medium let out a piercing scream, convulsed and then died.

The stream of Hellhounds stopped, but too many of them had already come through. Having killed all the other mundanes, the demons now turned to Will and Jem.

"There's too many of them," Jem said. "We can't kill them all, not unless they wait in line."

"Perhaps they'll do it if we ask nicely," Will suggested. "What do you say, chaps?" he addressed the demons surrounding them. "Wait your turn and we'll get round to dispatching you all back to your filthy demon realm."

The Achaieral demons roared in challenge. The Hellhounds added to the cacophony with their baying. The boys were forced to cover their ears to protect themselves from going mad with the sounds of hell. They looked around for leverage.

"I have an idea," Jem said. "The wine bottles in the dining room."

"Normally, I would not say no to some wine, but there's a time and a place, James," Will informed him.

"I meant," Jem clarified, "that alcohol makes an excellent combusting agent."

"Ah, the wine bottles," Will realised. "I assume you have matches."

Jem patted his pocket. "I'll need an opening."

"Leave it to me."

Will's seraph blade was almost spent but he summoned all his power and charged the Achaieral demon nearest to the door. As he attacked, Jem slipped through and into the dining room. Within seconds, he returned with a bottle of wine. The mouth of the bottle was full of fire. "Will!" he warned.

Will dropped to the ground just as Jem threw the bottle. It smashed all over the demon, causing it to burst into flames. Its screeching was ear-piercingly loud and it trampled all over the room in an attempt escape the flames. Jem repeated this move several times, running to and from the dining room with bottles. The demons crashed through the magically sealed doors and out into the open to get away from the fire. The cold night air that blew in helped to remove the stench of the demons and magic. The boys fell to the floor in exhaustion.

"Damn these mundanes," Will cursed. "That was no séance; it was a summoning. I blame that medium, with her hideous dress and disgusting turban."

"Mundanes would not know a summoning spell from one that opens a portal to the demon realms. It was probably a mistake," Jem reasoned. "One that, I am sad to say, had extremely unfortunate consequences. 'Curiosity killed the cat' holds true here in a terribly gruesome way."

"Well, I guess we're never going to see that bag of gold," Will concluded. He glanced at Jem, whose lips curled upwards. Sitting amid the carnage, the boys began to laugh hysterically.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

"You could have both been killed!" Charlotte shrieked at Will and Jem as they stood before her in her study, after they returned to the Institute and recounted the events of the evening. "You are just fifteen! How could either of you handle two demons that are capable of killing even Shadowhunters of age? I expected recklessness of you, Will, but Jem? I thought you would see the folly."

Will was leaning careless against a high-backed armchair. He looked as though he did not even notice his guardian shouting at him, and even if he did, he could not care less what she had to say. Jem, however, heard every word and felt guilty. In retrospect, they should have called the Enclave before, and not after, they engaged the demons in combat.

Charlotte had a lot on her plate at the moment. She had not been married even one year when her father, who was then the head of the Institute, died, and she was named the new Institute head and left in charge of running the whole operation. The London Institute was large and very influential, as it oversaw all the Shadowhunters in Britain. It would have been a daunting task for anyone, let alone a woman as young as Charlotte. The last thing she needed was to fear that her youthful charges were getting their heads ripped off by a demon somewhere in the city.

"I'm sorry, Charlotte," Jem apologised contritely. "We did not mean to alarm you. We thought it was going to be a farce, like so many other mundane séances are. Had we known there was going to be danger, we would have called for help sooner."

"What worries me, Jem, is how those mundanes managed to get the spell and perform that ritual," Charlotte fretted. "Did the medium or the host say anything about it? Who was the medium anyway? Perhaps we should investigate."

"Thomas Batty is exactly as his name suggests," Will contributed scornfully. "Complete bats in the belfry, from what I saw of him. Shallow, simpering and seeking only the fickle fortunes of fame."

"There's no need to be so uncharitable, Will," Jem admonished lightly. "But it's true, what you say – Batty was harmless. His interest was in fun, fortune, fame and throwing frivolous parties for his so-called friends."

Will grinned. "That's a lot of alliteration, Jem. We may make a poet of you yet," he teased.

"If you could pay attention, Will," Charlotte ordered, sinking down into her chair. "What about the medium? What were your impressions of her?"

"Appalling fashion sense," Will immediately. "I probably would have beheaded her myself if I had to look at that ghastly yellow turban she was wearing for a prolonged period of time. And you should have seen her dress!"

"It seemed as if she was playing at being a medium," Jem interrupted. "As though she thought a medium should wear turbans, Egyptian jewellery and long flowy dresses with moons and stars embroidered on them, and affect a mysterious air, and so she did all that. Did you manage to speak to her before the séance?" he asked Will.

"I was too interested in the little sausage rolls and cream pastries."

"I had a word with Batty," Jem continued. "He introduced the woman, but he just called her his medium and did not give her name. They rushed off to the next guest before I could do more than say it was nice to meet them."

"I overheard some of the other guests gossiping. They knew her name. It was as appalling as her dress," Will suddenly said. "Madam Sepuntepet, I believe they called her."

"An Egyptian name. No doubt a false one, to add to her mystique as a medium," Jem concluded grimly.

Just then, a Shadowhunter entered the room. He was covered in ichor, which was already eating into the leather of his gear. His red hair caught the firelight and blazed. "Charlotte, darling," Henry greeted affectionately. "Sophie said I might find you here."

"Henry!" Charlotte exclaimed, jumping up from the armchair and examining her husband. "The ichor! Are you hurt?"

Henry shook off her concern. "I'm all right. We had a devil of a time tracking down those Achaieral. Lightwood managed to in the end by following the ichor trail. Luckily, you two boys managed to injure them or we would never have tracked them down. Really, I must find a way to track demons. It would make our job so much easier. In fact, I have an idea – perhaps certain runes, not unlike tracking runes…"

He went on for so long that Charlotte lost her patience. "Henry!" she interrupted, "You may work on your idea all you wish later, but first you must change out of your gear."

He stopped and looked down at his gear. The tough leather was most certainly ruined now. His expression grew sheepish. "You're right, as always, my dear," he conceded. "I'll go upstairs and change, shall I?"

"Do," Charlotte said, dispatching him with a smile. She turned back to the boys. "I think you two should also call it a night. In the morning, I shall arrange for someone to make inquiries into this Madam… Sepuntepet." She pronounced the syllables carefully. She sounded like she had never thought she would have to say a word as outlandish as that.

"An excellent idea," Will agreed. "I could do with a good bath to wash the stink of mundane flesh off me."

Charlotte wrinkled her nose and looked as if she would like to say something about that remark but could find nothing exactly wrong with it that she could criticise. The boys, after all, did smell of dismembered human flesh and blood. In the end, she gave up and dismissed the two boys without another word.

"Do you think we'll ever find out who that medium was?" Jem wondered as they mounted the staircase up to the bedroom wing of the Institute.

"I doubt it," Will answered. "But I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Mundanes like her are just begging to be turned into body parts in a bloody pentagram for meddling with things they know nothing about."

"I agree with Charlotte," Jem went on. "Everything about that medium seemed like a fraud, and yet she managed to conduct a real summoning. Even warlocks struggle to call a single demon, let alone two and a pack of Hellhounds. And there was also the matter of the doors being sealed shut."

"We'll probably go talk to the High Warlock of London in the morning," Will suggested. "What's his name? The green cabbage man with the horns?"

"Ragnor Fell," Jem sighed. "You know who he is, Will. Why do you persist in calling him such names? You know it's rude."

"I shall call whomever I want whatever I want," Will announced. "Perhaps if he did not always look so disapproving whenever he sees me, I might be inclined to think of him more charitably."

"You once called him a frog-skinned goat and bleated at him," Jem scolded. "It's no wonder he doesn't like you."

"That was ages ago! Clearly, his grudge is completely…"

But Jem had no chance to find out what Will thought about Ragnor and his grudge. At that moment, Will was cut off by a sudden jolt and strong shaking of the ground that threw both of them off their feet. Dust rained down from the rafters. Vases leaped off the little side tables and smashed on the floor. Several paintings fell off the walls.

"James!" Will cried. His parabatai just had time to roll away before a heavy gilt picture frame crashed onto the spot where his head had just been.

"I'm all right," Jem called. Then, as abruptly as it began, the shaking stopped. "What on earth just happened?"

"I don't know," Will said, grabbing Jem's arm to help him to his feet. "But if this is Henry's doing, I'm going to kill him."


	4. Chapter 4

4.

The earthquake turned out not to be Henry's fault. Charlotte's husband adamantly denied any involvement and said he had been doing as he was told – changing out of his gear in his bedroom. To his credit, he was half-dressed in his night clothes when they all gathered back in Charlotte's study after the incident.

"What happened, then?" Will demanded. "Was it just us or…"

"It was the whole city," Charlotte finished. "I've had reports – more complaints, really – from the Lightwoods, the Blackthorns and the Waylands, just to name a few. These families live all over the city but they all felt the earth tremble. The mundanes are all congregating outside as well."

"Should we go out too? Is it safe to be indoors?" Jem asked in concern.

"I don't think the Institute will come crashing down," Charlotte assured him. "The worst seems to be over."

"You can't know that! You don't even know what caused that first tremblor," Will challenged.

"Will, earthquakes are a natural phenomenon!" Charlotte snapped.

"Except London doesn't have earthquakes!"

Jem quickly jumped in before Will could continue. "I'm sure we are all on edge. It was something very unexpected," he said. "But, as you said, Charlotte, it is a natural occurrence. There's no evidence of it being otherwise. I do not see any major devastation that would require our assistance, so I say we resume where we left off and go to bed."

Henry quickly agreed with him and Charlotte was forced to concede. The group went back upstairs. Jem was settling in for the night and standing by the window in his room to look out over the city when he spotted a familiar figure leaving the Institute. His parabatai, Will, he supposed, was out again for another night-time jaunt. He wondered where Will would go tonight. The streets were far from quiet, with mundanes all standing around and gossiping as though it were daylight.

Jem had long ago learnt not to pay any attention to when Will left the Institute. He had once followed his parabatai and realised that, for all his tales of debauchery and lasciviousness, Will really did not do anything more than pound the pavements of London all night. He wondered why the boy felt it necessary to lie about where he was going and what he was doing, but he respected his unspoken wish for privacy.

The next morning, Will was full of tales to tell. He burst into the dining room at breakfast and announced: "The earthquake did more than just shake the buildings. It opened up several sinkholes in the East End, Grange Hill, Wimbledon, and other places. The largest one is in Hyde Park. The mundane police are having quite a job keeping people away. Perhaps we should go take a look."

"You and Jem are to keep well away," Charlotte ordered sternly. "I won't have you poking around and breaking your necks tripping over a rock."

Will looked offended. "I am a Shadowhunter. I do not trip over rocks," he declared. He sat down in his seat with excessive grace and pulled over a plate of scrambled eggs and fried tomatoes.

"You two have lessons to attend to," Charlotte informed them. "You, at least, Will, have a list of Enochian verbs to learn."

"It would take me all of ten minutes," Will challenged. "I bet even you couldn't do better, Jem."

Charlotte shook her head in exasperation. Will had recently acquired a permanent Mnemosyne rune and had not yet ceased to boast about how he could now remember everything. She was constantly reminding him that it was not just about memorising, but also attaining a proper understanding of the concepts. However, Will did not care. He knew enough to be of use in a fight and that was all that mattered to him.

The boys were ushered into the library after breakfast and told to take out their books for study. Charlotte supervised for some time before she was called away to attend to Clave business. She put Jem in charge.

"Will, would you please stop carving things into the table?" Jem requested in frustration as he watched his parabatai manipulating a dagger. It was a narrow blade with an intricate silver handle that Jem had given him. He was currently putting flourishes on a "W".

" _A story told is not a story lost if the story is told again_ ," Will said. "Perhaps in a hundred years time, some other bored Shadowhunter boys will sit here and wonder what others shared the same experience. Then they will look down and see my name."

"No, they won't. They will see a spot of blatant vandalism," Jem informed him drily. "And what makes you think this table will still be here in a hundred years?"

"I was speaking figuratively; a hundred years is not literally a hundred years. Perhaps in just fifty years, when we are old and grey, we can show our grandchildren where we once sat and memorised dull lists of Enochian all day." He put down his dagger and blew away the wood shavings. "Did you know, Jem, that taking pork with tea will give you a stomachache? The combination affects how one's stomach digests protein."

"How interesting."

"So, the next time Agatha makes pork chops, which I believe is tonight, I will happily fall on the sword and take your share so you can avoid hours of pain while you toss and turn in bed. Only for you, my dearest of friends, my parabatai, the other half of my soul."

"That's noble of you, Will, but I think I will take the risk."

"Suit yourself. Don't come running to me when you're doubled over in pain because your dinner disagreed with you." Will leaned back and propped his feet up on the table, rocking the chair on its two back legs.

Jem leaned back as well, though his feet were kept firmly on the ground. "Do you think that medium had anything to do with the earthquake?"

"You give that woman far too much credit, James."

"I'm serious," Jem continued thoughtfully. "There has never been an earthquake of that magnitude in London. And yet, in a single night, a medium opens up a portal to the demon dimensions, demons came through and there is an earthquake. And the very next morning, sinkholes appear. Surely, these cannot be coincidences."

"Earthquakes are 'natural phenomenon'," Will reminded him, mocking the way Charlotte had admonished him earlier.

"We really should inspect those sinkholes," Jem decided. "Just in case."

"You agree with me! I'm so glad! Let's go tell Charlotte."

"Patience, Will," Jem ordered, grabbing Will's hand before he could leap up and out of the room. "We still have lessons to do. I will ask Charlotte when the time is right."

Will sat back down. As Jem bent over his books, Will took out his dagger again and began carving a "H" on the table.


	5. Chapter 5

5.

"I don't know how you do it, Jem," Will marvelled as they both walked down the road towards Hyde Park. "It's like you bat your eyes, turn on your smile and women fall swooning at your feet, ready to acquiesce to your every request."

Jem gave Will a small smile. "It pays to be nice to people once in a while, Will," he suggested. "And women do not fall swooning at my feet. Heavens! That would be inconvenient and awkward."

"Since Charlotte gave in and let us go to see the sinkhole, I don't care what method you used to persuade her; it worked," Will said.

Since Hyde Park was the most accessible of the sinkholes, it drew the largest crowd of people, all jostling to get a view of the phenomenon. The streets leading up to the park were clogged. Jem and Will were, again, shut out from the sight as other people pushed them back in the rush to move forward.

"If these people don't stop pushing me, I'm going to kill someone," Will growled.

"Remember, mundanes frown upon killings in the street," Jem reminded him.

"I know, I know," Will said exasperatedly. "Do you have a plan? Glamours?"

"We can't turn invisible in this crowd. We'd never pass unnoticed," Jem's keen eyes scoped the area. "We'll have to approach it from another direction."

"Kensington?" Will suggested.

"You read my mind," Jem smiled, moving into a relatively quieter side street and pulling out his stele. "Come here; I'll glamour you."

Thus invisible to the mundane world, the boys slipped past the soldiers standing watch outside Kensington Palace, which bordered Hyde Park. The noise of the crowd petered away with every step. They boys skirted the palace building and headed for the gardens behind it. It was still broad daylight, so they had to be careful not to disturb anything or draw attention to themselves. The last thing they wanted to do was to get a pack of guard dogs unleashed on them. They were invisible to sight but animals could smell them just fine.

They slipped through the tall pine trees, squat yew trees and bushy beech trees until they came to the far end of the gardens. The Long Water emerged through the trees. It formed the boundary between the royal gardens and the public park. The boys followed the lake until they came to the Serpentine Bridge, where they walked across, confident that the glamours held and the soldiers guarding the place could not see them. Only the mute swans paid attention to them, as they smelled the unfamiliar scents.

They crossed over the park to get to the spot where the sinkhole was, a short distance away from the popular Rotten Row. The park was quiet, now that it was empty of people. Everything seemed muted; even the birds and animals could not be heard, and the policemen standing watch around the park made as little noise as they could.

The sinkhole could not be seen until they came right up to it. It was as if the ground had just given way, revealing a roughly circular shaft that fell down into the earth. The hole was large, about ten metres across. It seemed to emanate malevolent energy.

Will and Jem paced around the site, looking to see if there were any signs of demonic activity. So far, it seemed like there were none. Then they came right to the edge of the chasm.

"What do you say? Jump?" Will prompted with a wicked and eager gleam in his eye.

"I'm not keen on breaking my neck," Jem retorted.

Will squatted down and craned his neck to see into the hole. "It looks like we may be able to scramble down on our hands and knees," he observed. Without a word of warning, he disappeared feet first into the hole.

"Will!" Jem hissed in alarm. But his parabatai did not reply. "Will?" he repeated. When there was still no reply, he sighed heavily. "I shall have to go after him, then." He loosened his jacket to ensure he could manoeuvre more easily and then slipped into the hole after Will.

It was like being on a children's slide. Jem had no sooner put his feet into the hole that the ground gave way under him and he slid down, gaining speed as he did so. The darkness grew with each second, and the sunlight above diminished to a pinprick then disappeared. He tried to reach out to grab anything – tree roots or bits of rock, perhaps – to arrest his fall, but there was nothing to hold on to.

Then, he saw a light below him. It was a faint glimmer but grew brighter as he approached. His feet suddenly connected with ground before him causing him to tumble head over heels forward.

"All right, Jem?" Will held up his witchlight, for that was what the light was. His parabatai was covered in sand and dust, and Jem had no doubt he too was similarly disarrayed. Will picked up Jem's sword-cane that he had lost hold of during his fall and handed it back to him.

"All right," Jem assured Will. "What is this place?" It looked like a natural cave and there was a tunnel leading off into the distance. Jem could not see where it led to.

"No idea," Will said cheerfully. "Let's find out, shall we?" He strode off down the tunnel, clearly expecting Jem to follow. Jem paused a moment to pick up his own witchlight and then went after him.

The tunnel was sandy and dry. The walls seemed to be highly compacted soil, rather than rock or stone. There were no tree roots or insects or any signs of life. The way was mostly straight, though they sometimes came to forks, which led to smaller tunnels. However, they kept to the main route.

Then, they abruptly came to the end of the road. The tunnel opened up into a small chamber. The only way forward was by a hole in the middle of the floor. Will approached cautiously. He could hear the sound of rushing water in the distance. He pulled out a piece of string from his pocket, tied it to his witchlight and lowered the light down.

"Do you see anything?" Jem asked. He was feeling nervous this deep underground. Throughout the journey, he kept thinking he could hear something just out of range, but he saw nothing. He was apprehensive enough to draw his sword-cane and stay on high alert, though.

"There's a ledge and more tunnel," Will said. "I'm going down."

"Will!" Jem tried to stop him, but as he did before, Will was gone before he could even finish saying his name. He called down the hole: "Will, I don't think this is a good idea. We should go back and return later with more back up."

"Just get down here, Jem!" Will's disembodied voice echoed up impatiently from the hole.

Jem sighed and carefully lowered himself down. Will was standing a few metres ahead of him. "Come on," he beckoned. "This way."

Jem followed again. This tunnel was made of rock, and was damp and slick. The sound of rushing water was louder here. "A river? Is it the Thames? Are we near an exit?"

"I don't think so," Will said. "Perhaps it's one of the city's lost underground rivers."

They walked for a few more minutes before they found the river. It was not large, more like a stream, but it was fast and filled the stone channel with eddies and currents.

"Definite end of the line this time," Will observed cheerfully. "Unless you fancy a dip in that water?"

"I certainly do not," Jem said, grabbing hold of Will before his parabatai could jump in. "And you're not going to either. We've done all we can here. It seems that the sinkhole was truly nothing more than a natural phenomenon. There's no signs of life…" He was interrupted when Will let out a yelp and forcefully jerked backwards. There was a loud splash.

"Will!" Jem cried in alarm. He held up his witchlight, hoping that Will was close enough to be hauled back to shore. But as he surveyed the water, he saw nothing. He was so intent in searching for Will that he did not notice anything else around until something hard hit him across the head and he, too, plunged down into the water.


	6. Chapter 6

6.

The cold water shocked Jem back to consciousness. There was a stinging sensation at the back of his head when the water touched his wound, and the icy water felt like daggers against his exposed skin. The water currents carried him down, throwing his body against hidden rocks and walls.

But none of this was important to him. There was only one thing on his mind. "Will!" he yelled as loud as he could. His voice was quickly lost in the loud roaring of the water. "Will!"

He struck out and attempted to keep to the middle of the fast-flowing stream as much as possible to avoid hitting the walls. This was easier said than done. He was now in utter darkness and his limbs were numb and heavy. He was very sure some bones had been broken too. "Will! Where are you?" he shouted again. Water rushed into his mouth as he called.

The stream was like a living being intent on claiming Jem for its own. It was a challenge just to keep his head above the water. The force of the current kept dragging him under and tossing him in all directions. It took all of his focus not to cry out every time his body hit something hidden underwater. Breathing and staying alive were more important; acknowledging pain was secondary.

Just as he thought he could not fight it any more, things changed. The walls of the tunnel became smooth brick rather than jagged rock, and the tunnel widened. The stream also calmed a little, though it still rushed forward at a very high speed. With a little manoeuvring, Jem realised that if he relaxed, his body would float without being buffeted in all directions by the current.

Finally, Jem saw light. The water burst out of the tunnel and deposited him into the open air of the Thames. There was the green grass of a park on the bank in front of him, and a few figures of people running about. But he had only a moment to notice this as the force of the water pulled him back underwater. He gasped in surprise and then began to choke as the dirty river water filled his mouth and throat. He fought to get back to the surface. The breath of air when he finally broke free was like a rebirth.

He looked around, desperately trying to find Will. He shouted his parabatai's name with increasing franticness. He took a deep breath and went back underwater to see if perhaps Will was stuck. He found nothing despite diving several times. But Jem was not about to go back to shore without Will. He could feel that Will was still alive and close.

After diving for what felt like the hundredth time, Jem finally saw a dark humanoid shape through the gloom. He made a beeline for it. It was Will, floating limply with his eyes closed and his skin deathly pale. There were cuts and scrapes on his face, including a very nasty looking wound on his forehead and temple. Jem hooked an arm around his waist and made for the surface.

Struggling hard, he managed to haul Will up to the riverbank and laid him flat on his back. He checked him for breathing and other signs of life. Will's skin was turning blue and Jem could barely find a pulse and breath.

He searched his pockets for a stele but it seemed that the journey through the water had stripped both of them of anything they might have carried. "You will not die today!" he shouted in fear. "Do you hear me, William? You will not die before I do."

His outburst gave him a fresh spurt of energy. He remembered reading a pamphlet about how one should assist a person who had drowned. One had to ensure the victim's head was lower than his feet, and then apply manual pressure to the abdomen. Jem placed his hands on Will's chest and pressed down hard. He was tired and it took a lot of strength for him to press down.

"Come on, Will," he pleaded. He pressed again, this time pushing down with all his might. He felt something give way under his hands and he worried that he was hurting Will more than helping. "Please wake up!"

Why was no one coming to help? Jem wondered. The group of mundanes he spotted earlier was still there and he called loudly to implore for help. The people continued their activities as though they heard nothing. To his horror, Jem realised that the glamour runes were still in effect. No one could see or hear them. Will could die here and no one would know.

"No!" Jem gritted his teeth determinedly. "You are not going to die," he repeated. He applied pressure again to Will's chest. This time, water trickled out from his mouth. Jem's spirits lifted. Perhaps it was working. As he pumped at Will's chest, more and more water came out.

An eternity later, Will started to gasp and cough. He rolled over onto his side and vomited the dirty river water onto the ground. That was when Jem stopped applying pressure, completely worn out but relieved. Will got to his hands and knees and coughed, expelling more water with each spasm. Colour was slowly coming back to his cheeks. He looked over at Jem. "What the hell happened?" he gasped.

Jem shook his head. He was too exhausted to even speak. Every bone in his body was aching and throbbing with dull pain. He fell back onto the stony ground. He heard Will crawl over to his side. "Jem? Are you all right?"

"So tired," he muttered. "Let's just lay here quietly for a bit, all right, Will?"

There was feeling of warmth as Will lay down next to him. "I remember something hitting me, then nothing," he recalled. "What happened?"

"You fell into the water," Jem whispered slowly, unable to muster up enough strength to speak louder. "Then something attacked me. I lost my balance and fell in too. The stream carried us out here. You were unconscious. I thought you were dead. I managed to pull you out and got us both up here. I can't move any more. Everything hurts. I think I broke a few bones."

"You saved my life," Will concluded solemnly. "Thank you."

Jem turned his head to look at Will and saw him grinning back at him. "You're my brother. I'll always be there for you," he said. Then his eyes rolled back and the darkness engulfed him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello? Is anyone out there? Anyone still reading this? Leave a comment to say hi ok? Do you all not like the story? Leave a comment to say so too if that's so. I just wanna know how it's going.**

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7.

Jem woke to find himself back in his own bed at the Institute. There was a roaring fire in the grate and the curtains were drawn, creating a very cosy atmosphere in the room. His whole body felt sore and weak, as though he had just recovered from a major illness, but it was nothing that he could not endure.

Slowly, he pushed himself up to a sitting position on his bed. He was alone, though a chair by his bedside containing a dented cushion suggested that someone had been sitting with him recently.

There was a jug of water on his bedside table. Jem carefully reached over to pour himself a glass. However, the jug was heavy and it slipped out of his grasp, falling to the floor with an almighty crash. Water exploded everywhere.

There was the sound of running feet and Charlotte burst into the room. "Jem!" she exclaimed. Worry was etched all over her face but she relaxed when she saw that he was not hurt. She summoned Sophie to help clean up the spilled water as she sat on the side of Jem's bed to check him over.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"A little tired," Jem answered. "Where's Will? Is he all right? How did I get back here? How long was I asleep?"

"I sent Will back to his room," Charlotte said. "He is all right but he needs to rest as well. He insisted on sitting with you after the Silent Brothers left. You were very badly hurt. Six broken bones, not to mention countless cuts, scrapes and bruises. You've been asleep for almost a whole day."

"How did we get back to the Institute?"

"Will said he managed to carry you up to the main road," Charlotte said. "There, he contacted one of his Downworld associates, who informed us of your situation. Henry and Thomas took the carriage to get you. The two of you were at Battersea Park, did you know?"

"So far from where we started," Jem mused. "Did Will tell you what happened?"

"He did," Charlotte nodded grimly. "I have sent a few Shadowhunters to investigate."

Sophie re-entered the room carrying a tray with a steaming bowl and a hunk of bread. She set it down on a low table by the fire. The smell of the hot soup filled the room and made Jem's stomach rumble. Will followed in Sophie's wake. "Will!" Jem called, glad to see his parabatai alive and well.

"Hello, Jem, still with us, I see," Will greeted. Though he spoke nonchalantly, relief was clear on his face.

"I'll leave Will to take care of you, then," Charlotte said, getting up and heading out. "Don't wear him out," she sternly warned Will.

Will waited until Charlotte was safely out of the door before he hopped up onto Jem's bed. "Well, that was an adventure, wasn't it? Care to do it again?"

"What? Sneak back into the tunnels? I don't fancy getting hit on the head again and taking another ride downriver to the Thames," Jem scowled. He reached for the bowl of soup and spooned it into his mouth hungrily.

"Thomas managed to retrieve your stele and cane," Will informed him, nodding in the direction of the window. His dragon-head sword-cane was propped up against the window frame. "I also thought you'd like to know that an informant of mine knows someone who knows some information on our mysterious medium. I'll be meeting this person later."

"At the Devil Tavern?" Jem inquired.

"No. Strangefellows," Will corrected.

Strangefellows pub was exactly like the name implied. It claimed to be the oldest pub in the world, though nobody knew when it was first built or who built it. It was not a pub that one could stumble upon; one had to know where it was or one would never find it. Everyone, from Downworlders, Shadowhunters, mundanes and every other form of creature visited it and were served without question, as long as they could pay the bill. To say it was sleezy was an understatement, but the "mind one's own business" attitude the customers held ensured that numerous deals could be carried out under the tables and in complete privacy.

Will slipped out of the Institute just before midnight and made his way to Strangefellows. The pub was in an unobtrusive corner of a non-descript alley. It looked closed but Will knew better. He pushed open the door – it was so grimy that it blended in almost perfectly with the rest of the wall – and entered.

The door made a loud screeching sound as he opened it and the metal steps he had to walk down to get to the pub proper clattered loudly. Pub patrons, it seemed, liked to know when someone was coming.

The pub was not busy and Will spotted his informant almost immediately. The warlock with a large curved horn in the middle of his forehead was seated at a table close to the bar, nursing an amber-coloured drink and shooting concerned looks at everything that moved. He seemed to blink a lot less than other people. Will slid into the chair opposite him.

"I assume you're the one I'm supposed to meet," Will greeted.

"Nephilim," the warlock spat. "I wasn't told I would be meeting a Nephilim."

"Will Herondale, at your service," Will said cheerfully. "And you are…"

"Julien Kay."

"So pleased to make your acquaintance. Now, what have you got to tell me?"

"They say you're inquiring into a woman who called herself Madam Sepuntepet," Kay began. "Now, this is all hypothetical, you understand?" Will nodded. "Say a woman by that moniker recently wandered into a warlock den. And, say, there she met a certain warlock. Said warlock then bought her drinks and pried her secrets from her – how she worried about being a failed medium, how her employer was on the verge of tossing her out on the streets for embarrassing him one too many times."

"An unfortunate story, but all too true for many mundanes."

"Too right. Now, after they finished talking, the warlock gives her a gift. Two gifts, as a matter of fact."

"Let me guess, one was a spell for summoning the dead?"

"Indeed, young Nephilim."

"What was the other?"

"A jewelled ankh, said to have been owned by the Witch of Endor herself. Now, by themselves, either gift would have been harmless. I could give you the same summoning spell and you could say the words but nothing would happen. But, if, hypothetically, one were to say the spell while channelling the power of the ankh, well, then, I would not like to think of the consequences."

"Perhaps a demon or two and a pack of Hellhounds?

"Worse, Nephilim. Far worse. You see, the dead cannot cross over to this realm; the wards you use to keep out the demons are too strong. Whenever we warlocks claim to summon the dead, it is but a vague shadow, just a fraction of what the dead really are. The only way to truly summon the dead would be to open up the wards."

"But to open the wards, that would mean nothing stands between this world and a demonic invasion," Will realised. He quickly regained his composure. No need to let Kay know that he had just given valuable information. "And what, pray tell, is the name of the warlock?"

"Now, now," Kay said in a simpering tone. "I did say it was all hypothetical."

"I see. Well, perhaps something shiny would be able to stretch your imagination further?" Will offered, putting some coins down on the table.

"Not for gold or favours would I give the name," Kay rebuffed. This time, though, he sounded genuinely afraid. Will wondered why.

"Not for gold or favours you say?" Will repeated. He took out his seraph blade and placed it strategically next to the coins. "How about pain or torment? I hear that's good for stimulating the mind too."

"Well now," Kay recoiled. "That changes matters." He reached for the coins.

"Excellent choice," Will congratulated. "The name?"

Kay pocketed the coins and took a gulp of his drink. "I don't know his name exactly. But there are those who call him the Lizard Man."

"Lizard Man?"

"On account of his green skin."


	8. Chapter 8

8.

After the warlock Julien Kay realised that Will was not about to leave Strangefellows, he beat his own hasty retreat, leaving Will to his thoughts. And Will had a lot to think about.

He knew only of one warlock in London with green skin – the High Warlock Ragnor Fell. But why would Fell give a random mundane a summoning spell and the power to cast it? Perhaps to throw the scent off himself? Surely, an ankh that powerful could only be owned by a powerful warlock, and thus be a tell-tale clue. Unless, of course, he had not expected that there would be Shadowhunters present at the time of the summoning.

Why would Fell want to take down the wards to open up the realm of the dead? He knew well enough that it would leave the world vulnerable to demonic attack. From what Will knew of Fell, he was cautious. The risks of such a summoning were too high.

Will also entertained the possibility that Kay had been lying all along. However, the warlock did seem afraid of something. There was a piece of the puzzle he was missing.

As he expected, Charlotte was reluctant to accept that Ragnor Fell was involved. "Ragnor has been a friend to the Shadowhunters," she said when Will updated her on his midnight meeting and she had finished telling him off for it. "He abhors violence. Surely, he wouldn't betray everything he believes in and open up the world to more demons."

Jem, from the depths of an armchair, said: "We cannot deny that there has been a marked upsurge in demonic attacks and sightings ever since that séance."

"What would it hurt to just ask Fell?" Will urged. "We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. At best, he saves us all time by confessing. Everyone will be happy and there'll be jam for tea. At worst, he denies it, and we stay right where we are now and carry on with the investigation."

"There is no evidence," Charlotte said firmly. "No, it's no good arguing further, Will. I will not jeopardise our relations with the warlocks by laying a baseless accusation on the High Warlock of London."

"It isn't a baseless accusation!"

"We have only the word of one informant," Charlotte pointed out. "That isn't good enough. Find me more evidence and then I will confront Ragnor. Now, Will, please go. You and Jem have training to do."

Will muttered something under his breath about not seeing the point of training when their trainer – Charlotte – was absent. However, Jem jumped up, grabbed his arm and dragged him out of Charlotte's study.

In the training room, Jem busied himself by going through some martial arts exercises. Will sat back and pulled out his copy of The Inquirer to read. He was deep into a story about a woman who claimed Jesus had appeared in her morning toast when Jem suddenly made a funny noise. It sounded like a cross between a gasp and a squeal, creating a strangling effect. He was also pointing excitedly at the magazine.

"What's wrong?" Will asked.

Jem coughed a little. "Apologies. I was about to speak when I choked," he said. "The magazine. You mentioned the Lizard Man. I kept thinking I had heard of that description somewhere before. Now I remember. It's similar to the description Mrs Richmond gave of the creature that was in her garden."

Will quickly flipped to the page. "He looked human, but not like any man I have ever seen. Tall, he was, and green, like a snake from head to toe," he read. "You think there actually could be a Lizard Man lurking around London? You yourself said that this rag is devoid of any shred of truth."

"And you were the one who said all the stories are true."

"And then you said…"

"I know what I said!" Jem interrupted. "The point is, what if this was one of the true stories? That Mrs Richmond really did see something in her garden and it was the Lizard Man that we seek? If we find a solid lead to the Lizard Man, we may be able to prove Ragnor Fell's innocence."

"You're saying we should skip the rest of training and go to Twickenham and talk to her," Will concluded. "Very well, let me go get my coat. But if this is a wild goose chase, James, I'm leaving it up to you to explain it to Charlotte."

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Mrs Molly Richmond was all too glad to speak to the boys. They had used glamour runes to hide their marks and told her they were connected to the magazine and planning a follow up story.

"I don't know what else to tell you, boys," Mrs Richmond said as she led them into the sitting room. "The police haven't said anything new since the last time I checked in with them, and that was before your reporter came to speak to me. In fact, I get the impression the police don't want to see anything more of me. I distinctly heard one of them mutter something about not wasting their time. As if they had something better to do than catch mysterious men lurking in decent folks' gardens in the middle of the night."

"The police are going to the dogs," Will agreed.

"I hate to speak badly about our lawmen, but I must agree with you," Mrs Richmond said. She picked up a little silver bell that was by the settee then abruptly put it down. "Oh, I forgot. Our housemaid has gone missing. I'll have to fetch the tea for you myself."

"We don't want to bother you, Mrs Richmond," Jem said, smiling sweetly. "I'm sure we can make do without tea for once."

"You're such nice boys; I wish my Gerald could be like you. But he's always out with those friends of his. Lord knows what he's up to," Mrs Richmond lamented. She sat down on the settee herself. "Now, if you boys want anything, you'll be sure to let me know?"

Jem assured her that they would. Will, though, began a new line of questioning. "You say your housekeeper has gone missing?" he prompted.

"Yes. She went out a few days ago and never came back. Ran away, I wouldn't be surprised. She was already on the way out, the way she carried on. My husband had just about enough of her," Mrs Richmond complained.

"So hard to get good help these days, isn't it? What did she do?" Will asked.

"Well, she always fancied herself a bit of a psychic," she answered. "Always messing about with cards and tea leaves. It wouldn't be the first time she's frightened off our guests by pouncing on their teacups and pretending to see unimaginable horrors in them."

Will exchanged a significant glance at Jem. "She thought of herself as a medium?" he clarified. "Was she hiring herself out or just dabbling in her spare time?"

"If only she did it during her spare time. That would've spared us a great deal of shame," Mrs Richmond ranted. "No, she insisted on hiring herself out. There's one of her ghastly advertisements on the mantle. I kept telling her not to leave them lying around. She insists on doing that, on the off chance one of my guests will take an interest and hire her."

Jem got up and took the piece of paper that was strategically placed under a piece of amber stone. He looked at it then turned white. Will was curious as to what could have incited such a reaction from his parabatai, but remained calm. "Well, Jem? Is it any good?"

Jem held up the advertisement for Will to see. The paper was cheap and contained hand drawn pyramids and other symbols that the artist clearly thought were mystical and esoteric. Across the top was scrawled the legend: "Madam Sepuntepet."


	9. Chapter 9

**Exciting new chapter guys! Favourite, follow and review if you like it. :)**

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9.

"This is too much of a coincidence," Jem mused as they left Mrs Richmond's home.

"Far too much," Will agreed. "Do you think she's in on it or was the medium working on her own?" As they walked down the garden path to leave the property, they passed a hydrangea patch. "Fancy a look around?" Will asked. Without waiting for Jem to answer, he made a sharp left turn and dived down under the bushes.

"Will, not again!" Jem sighed hard. "You could at least give me some warning before you swan off like that," he called. When there was no reply, he shook his head in exasperation. "And now I'll have to go after him. _Whither thou goest, I will go_." He loosened his coat and prepared to follow.

However, before he could, Will emerged. He was, naturally, bedraggled. His front was full of mud and there was a fresh tear on the arm of his coat. "London's finest have made a royal mess," he announced. "But, I did find this." He held up a dirty brown button. "The police don't wear buttons like this. I'd imagine it was left by Mrs Richmond's mystery midnight visitor."

Jem nodded. "A tracking spell would answer that question. Perhaps we could call on Ragnor on the way home."

"No!" Will disagreed. "If Ragnor really is the culprit, I don't want him to know that we know. We can track him ourselves, can't we? It's simple enough. I saw the runes in our book just two weeks ago."

Jem reluctantly agreed. Will grinned and pulled out his stele. Jem was taken aback. "You're going to perform the spell here? Right now?"

"No, Jem, let's wait until next week, shall we?" Will mocked. "Or is that too soon for you? Shall we wait for a special occasion? I hear Christmas is nice."

"Shouldn't we return to the Institute first? Or, at least, get off the Richmond property?"

"Can't do that, my friend. Even as we speak, hordes of demons may be rampaging through London, spreading chaos and disaster everywhere. The more we tarry, the more blood on our hands."

"It's broad daylight, Will."

Will frowned at him but applied the stele to his hand. He closed his eyes as the rune took effect. His eyes roved under the lids. "South London," he muttered. "There's a manor. No, moving to a mining area. A cave made of white stone. Chalk? I see him. It's not Ragnor. It's truly a Lizard Man. His skin is green and scaly, hideous yellow eyes," He gave a cry and fell back as though an invisible force had flung him.

"Will!" Jem rushed to his side.

Blood was seeping from Will's nose. "He saw me and didn't like it," Will said with a grin. He rubbed his nose with his sleeve, getting blood all over the material.

"Did you see where he was?"

"If I had to bet, I'd say it was a chalk mine somewhere in the south of the city," Will guessed. "Though, if he's underground, he may have already accessed the tunnels under the city. That could be how we were attacked underground the other day."

"There are chalk mines in Kent," Jem suggested. "Some have recently been closed and abandoned. They're far from any villages, at least, now that the miners have gone. It would be an ideal hideaway for anyone who does not want to be found."

"Perfect. Let's go!" Will leaped to his feet. Once there, though, he wobbled unsteadily.

Jem caught him before he could fall. "It'll be dark by the time we get there. We should return to the Institute before Charlotte worries. And you're in no shape to go charging into caves after rogue warlocks."

Will muttered something like "hang Charlotte and hang warlocks" but gave in with bad grace. They walked to the main road and managed to hail a cab. Even then, it took them almost two hours to get back to the Institute, and night was starting to fall.

Charlotte swooped down on them as they entered. "Where on earth have you been?" she demanded. "You've been missing the entire afternoon!"

Will let Jem explain things, since it had been his idea that they abscond in the first place. Charlotte looked askance at Will after hearing about his tracking spell, but Jem quickly headed her off by telling her about the findings.

"Well, I'm relieved it's not Ragnor," Charlotte remarked. "And we will certainly investigate the mines. I shall put a team together right away."

"Wouldn't it be too dark to investigate, Charlotte?" Jem pointed out.

"Even in daylight, it will be dark inside the caves," Charlotte said. "I will contact Ragnor as well. Perhaps he can be persuaded to join the investigation. After all, I think it would be better for a warlock to handle another warlock. I don't want anymore bloodshed."

"We'll put on our gear and be ready in ten minutes," Will announced.

But Charlotte held up a warning finger. "You will do no such thing. You are just fifteen. Leave it to more experienced Shadowhunters. God help you, if I find you out of the Institute tonight."

There was no arguing with her and the boys meekly changed their clothes and sat down to dinner. Will, in seeming defiance, had put fresh gear on instead of evening clothes. As they ate, several Shadowhunters arrived at the Institute to receive instructions from Charlotte about the investigation. The boys had peeked in on the gathering but Charlotte spotted them and ordered them to return to the dining room. After the meal, they lounged in front of the fire in the drawing room and played cards.

They saw no one else for the rest of the evening and were about to turn in for the night when there was a great disturbance at the entryway. The boys went to check. The front door wide open and a Shadowhunter lying on the ground, as though he had just stumbled in. He was covered in blood and ichor. Jem immediately went to help him but Will went to the door.

"Jem?" Will called. He sounded wary.

"What is it?" Jem asked, not looking up from the healing runes he was drawing on the Shadowhunter.

"I think we should go get our weapons," Will said.

"Why would we require weapons?"

"Let me rephrase that," Will repeated. "Let's go get our weapons."

Jem looked up and saw, to his horror, a wall of demons waiting just outside the hallowed grounds of the Institute.

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 **Please review if you liked it!**  
 **Extremely random question: Did Magnus actually meet Jem? Jem, not Bro Zachariah. And by meet, I mean they were in the same room and had a conversation. Please answer if you know. It's been bugging me for a while now.**


	10. Chapter 10

10.

"There are demons _everywhere_!" the injured Shadowhunter reported. "We were attacked the second we stepped over the Institute boundary line. We managed to kill them and make a break for it, but the farther we got from the Institute, the more demons we encountered. There was no way we could've got down to Kent. We were too busy fighting demons. They're attacking mundanes as well."

Charlotte nodded in acknowledgement. "I have sent a message to the Enclave. All Shadowhunters who can wield a weapon are to be out dealing with the demons."

"I've never seen this many demons at once before," he lamented. "They say the wards have been breached."

"Let's not speculate," Charlotte quickly said. "Our job is to deal with the demons now. We can think about it in a few hours."

Will crept away from the infirmary door where he had been eavesdropping. He went upstairs to Jem's room. His parabatai was doing what he always did when he needed to think – play on his violin. At the moment, the music sounded frustrated and agitated.

"Fiddling while Rome burns, I see," Will said as he barged into the room.

Jem was startled and pointed the violin bow at Will as though it were a sword. "Don't you think I wouldn't much rather be out there fighting than stuck in here waiting for those demons to get in?" he demanded. He then realised it was his parabatai and lowered the bow. "I'm sorry, Will. I'm jumpy tonight. How I wish I could do something rather than 'stay indoors where it's safe'."

"So what are you waiting for?" Will challenged. "Put on your gear. Let's go."

"Charlotte forbade us to leave the Institute. We're not of age," Jem reminded him.

"Hang Charlotte. For once in your life, James, disobey!" Will insisted. "We need to go down the tunnels, find the Lizard Man, kill him, close the breach to the realm of the dead and stop the demons from coming over. Not necessarily in that order, but you understand what I mean. Hurry up. Get dressed. I'll go get weapons and meet you in the entryway in ten minutes."

Without another word, Will swept out of the room.

Jem did as instructed and met Will downstairs. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"Hyde Park. That's the nearest entrance to the tunnels."

"If we can fight through that mob," Jem nodded at the demons just beyond the front door.

"I thought of that. We're going round the back. Hopefully the demons are too stupid to know there's a back way," Will said. He led the way through the kitchens and out to the garden. There was a high stone wall there, which he leaped to the top of easily. He held out his hand to help Jem. The way seemed clear. The boys jumped down lightly and began running.

They were attacked almost as soon as they crossed the Institute's boundary. But there were not as many demons as at the front, as Will had predicted. Several skirmishes later, they arrived in Hyde Park. The place was quiet. There were the bloodied bodies of a few mundanes lying around the sinkhole. Jem looked grim as he walked past them.

Will went straight to the sinkhole. This time, he waited for Jem before they went in together. Once at the bottom, they got out their witchlights and held their weapons at the ready. They walked the maze, with Jem stopping every so often to make a mark on the wall with chalk. They managed to get all the way to the stream without incident.

The roar of the water was even louder than before. The boys searched all around but found no hidden entrance anywhere in that chamber. They then backtracked and tried one of the smaller branches of the tunnel.

The first few diversions yielded no result. In the third tunnel, however, they noticed areas where the sandy ground had been disturbed. Clearly, someone had used this tunnel, but it did not look like the print from a policeman's boot. They followed this tunnel and, after about an hour of walking, found a large underground room.

There were pieces of food and the ashes of a fire on the floor. Jem placed a hand over the ashes and said: "Still warm."

"He must be close, then. Stay on guard," Will cautioned.

At that moment, a gust of wind came barrelling down a tunnel on the far side of the room. Both boys jumped and then cringed. The air felt foul and it tingled with malevolent magic.

"There shouldn't be any wind down here," Jem said worriedly.

"I know," Will acknowledged. He approached the tunnel and help up his witchlight. The light barely penetrated more than a few metres ahead. " _Once more unto the breach, dear friend, once more; or close the wall up with our English dead_."

Inside the tunnel, the darkness was so dense that their witchlights shrank to pinpoints, glowing but not illuminating anything. The boys could not even see the shape of their fingers that held the witchlights. However, neither of them wanted to put away the light and so the two stones bobbed along, like dark eyes floating and attached to nothing.

The wind blew through the tunnel again, stronger this time. Will took a step back and stumbled into Jem, almost causing him to fall backwards. "Someone just walked over my grave," Will murmured.

Jem shuddered. "I know. Me too."

They regained their composure and continued moving forward. The darkness began to get lighter. The boys discovered that they were no longer in a tunnel but a huge cavern. They also saw shadowy shapes moving, at first, just out of the corner of their eyes, but later, in front of them and all around. They could not discern what these creatures were, except that they were decidedly not natural.

Then, in the distance, there was a glare of bright red light. The sudden light after so long in the dark caused the boys to be momentarily blinded. Then Jem heard Will yell out in shock. Jem felt a searing pain tear through his chest where his parabatai rune was. Something horrific was happening to Will.

Jem fought the pain, struggling to regain control over his body. Blinking hard, he forced his eyesight to return, and he saw Will pressed up against a huge stone slab that was pulsing with a red glow. Light was passing from his parabatai and into the stone. Standing by and watching all this was the Lizard Man – a warlock whose skin was green and scaly like a reptile.

Jem drew his seraph blade. "Let him go!" he ordered.

"You can put away your weapon, little Shadowhunter," the Lizard Man sneered. "This is the realm of the dead, and the dead keep it. Neither angels nor demons exist here."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that. I'm standing right before one," Jem challenged, hiding the fact that he was rattled by the revelation. He put the seraph blade away but kept his other weapons at the ready. The Lizard Man just laughed. Jem edged closer to Will and tried to pull him away. He could not. It was as if some force from inside the stone was holding Will captive. He felt his strength being drawn away even as Will began to die before his eyes.

"Yes, soon, he will die and so will you, and so will all who oppose me," the Lizard Man goaded in a soft voice. "So, go on, little Shadowhunter, try to free your friend. No one can escape the Stone of Destiny."


	11. Chapter 11

11.

Jem desperately tugged at Will, pulling at his shoulders, at his hands, hooking his arms around his waist. Nothing helped. He felt a sticky wetness on his chest as his parabatai rune began to bleed. The pain was starting to overwhelm him and he fell to his knees beside Will.

The Lizard Man came up to him then and leaned in close. Jem could smell the rankness of his breath and see the excitement in his yellow eyes. The Lizard Man reached for Jem's hand. He was muttering a spell and was about to place it on the glowing red Stone of Destiny as well when Jem's other hand arched upwards.

Jem's small dagger almost reached its mark, but the Lizard Man spotted it just in time and dodged. Standing a safe distance away, he taunted: "Come on then. Let's see what Shadowhunters are made of."

Jem forced his body to ignore the pain from his parabatai rune and got to his feet. He pulled out his sword cane and lunged forward. Again, his adversary was too quick. He glanced at Will in fear. There was no time for this parrying. He feinted with his sword and swung out with his other hand just as the Lizard Man moved away.

The Lizard Man let out a bellow of pain as Jem's dagger connected and stabbed deep into his stomach. Blood spurted everywhere and landed on the stone. The stone glowed when the blood touched it, and Will slumped to the side, released from the stone's hold.

"You little brats!" the Lizard Man yelled at them. Green sparks flew from his fingers as he worked magic to heal his wound. "I will kill you. I will kill you all! Starting with that one. He can't escape destiny." He pointed at Will, his fingers moving in unmistakable gestures – he was preparing to cast a spell.

Jem was a few metres away and barely reacted fast enough. He grabbed a seraph blade and threw it. Though it was larger than his usual throwing knives, he managed to fling it forward and it buried itself deep into the Lizard Man's chest. His desperate throw was true and the warlock fell without another sound as the blade pieced his heart. He fell against the stone, which glowed bright red again, as though victorious that its prey had been caught.

Jem did not wait to see what would happen next. He grabbed Will, put his arm around his neck and pulled his unconscious parabatai as quickly as he could out of that chamber.

The journey out of the tunnels was like a fevered dream to Jem. He just kept moving without really thinking, and by a miracle, he managed to get them both out and up to the fresh air of Hyde Park. From there, he staggered back to the Institute just as dawn began to break.

The Silent Brothers were immediately summoned to tend to Will. They stayed all day, but there seemed to be little they could do to revive him. Will lay in a comatose state, with only the slight rising and falling of his chest with each breath to indicate that he was still living. Hours turned into days, and days slowly turned into a week.

Jem did not leave Will's side. But even though he was right next to Will, he felt as though his parabatai was far away. The link between them, forged through their parabatai runes, felt stretched and it hurt. Jem was in constant pain and his rune was red and inflamed. The Silent Brothers had examined it but found nothing to be physically wrong. But Jem knew that something was terribly wrong.

It was the eighth day after they returned from underground. Jem was walking through the Institute after Sophie kicked him out of Will's room so she could do some sprucing up. It was then that he heard raised voices coming from Charlotte's study.

"You assured me it would be a simple matter to close the portal to the realm of the dead," Charlotte demanded. "Why is it taking so long? We lost another three good Shadowhunters last night to ravaging demons, not to mention countless mundanes."

It was Ragnor Fell's voice that answered: "Do you think I wish for this situation to last this long? My warlocks and I are doing our best."

"That's not good enough! A mere mundane was able to work the summoning spell that caused all this havoc. Are you telling me the High Warlock of London cannot undo it?" Ragnor began to say something but Charlotte cut him off: "I don't want to hear any more excuses, Ragnor. We cannot hold back such a plague of demons forever. Get it done before more people die."

Jem jumped aside as Ragnor suddenly pushed open the door of the study and came out, his face like thunder. He spotted the boy immediately. "Young Mr Carstairs, is it?" Ragnor greeted grumpily. "I heard about your parabatai. You have my sympathies."

"Thank you, Mr Fell," Jem said politely. "We're all hoping he will recover soon."

"What exactly is wrong with him, if I may ask?"

"I'm afraid no one knows," Jem admitted. Then, he burst out: "Would you come and examine him? Perhaps warlock magic could help."

"I thought Shadowhunters didn't hold much with warlock magic," Ragnor pointed out.

Jem shook his head. "At this point, I would employ any means I can to save Will. Something is desperately wrong, Mr Fell. I can feel it. But no one seems to know what to do. Even the Silent Brothers think it's only a matter of time before he wastes away and dies, if he does not wake. I cannot bear standing by and doing nothing. I must try everything possible to save him."

"Admirable sentiment," Ragnor marvelled, his bad temper disappearing in a moment. "Very well, take me to him. I make no promises, but I'll see what I can do."

Jem led the way up to Will's room. Sophie had gone but she left the curtains open so the room was lit with cheerful sunlight. It formed a stark contrast to the pale, still figure lying on the bed. Jem gestured to Will and stood back to give Ragnor space.

Ragnor carefully examined Will, taking his pulse, checking his eyes and listening to his heart. He then cast some spells. Light green pulses of light emanated from his fingers. Jem shuddered to see it – the memory was too close to the time when they were confronting the Lizard Man.

Then, Ragnor suddenly leaped to his feet and grabbed Jem around the arms. "What happened in the realm of the dead?" he demanded.

Jem was startled but he managed to stammer out the whole story of the Lizard Man, the ambush in the dark, the evil red Stone of Destiny. Ragnor released Jem when he heard of the Stone. He began pacing the chamber in agitation.

"What is it?" Jem asked. "What's wrong?"

"Do you know what the Stone of Destiny is?" Ragnor asked. Jem shook his head. "Neither do I, exactly. It is mentioned in warlock stories but nothing really definitive. I suppose the Lizard Man heard the legends. They say it could be a weapon; he who possesses it, traditionally the king of the underworld, could control souls. From my investigations into this warlock, I found that he wanted to raise an army of the dead to destroy the Shadowhunters and win freedom for the Downworlders."

"But what does that have to do with Will?"

'The other legends say the Stone of Destiny is a touchstone, something that tests the quality of souls. After souls enter the realm of the dead, they touch the stone and get absorbed into it. There, they are refined and purified – call it Purgatory or call it Hell, if you will. After the process, they are released from the stone and remain in the realm of the dead to await reincarnation or whatever else there is that exists after death."

"But Will's not dead."

"Exactly! He was not dead when he touched the stone. What will the stone do to a living soul? I imagine it's like dipping an open wound in iodine. Furthermore, his soul is knit to yours. What do you feel?"

"I…" Jem hesitated. He closed his eyes and tried to block out the pain in his parabatai rune and focused. "It's as if he is lost, somewhere far away. He can't find the way out. Are you saying he's trapped in the stone? Can we retrieve him?"

"I don't know about 'we'," Ragnor said. "I can give you a spell that would, theoretically, enable you to summon Will's soul out from the stone. But you must be the one to cast it. You are the one that Will's soul is drawn to and part of his soul is in you. You're possibly the only person for whom the stone will release the soul. But, you must be careful. If you are not strong enough, the stone will absorb your soul too, to make whole the soul it currently has."

"I can do it. For Will, I'll go to Hell and back," Jem declared.

"I like your determination, Mr Carstairs," Ragnor said. "Because Hell is possibly exactly where you're going to have to go."

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 **Like the chapter? Please review ok? :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**MirrorFlame I prefer Magnus too. But, according to TID, Magnus didn't know our boys at this time. He met them only a few years later.**

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12.

For the third time, Jem found himself in the passages underneath Hyde Park. He did not have to wonder at where he was going, for he felt something calling to him and leading him on. He was not afraid. It was as if, with every step, he was moving towards somewhere he was supposed to be. Far from being frightening, the darkness that engulfed him in the tunnels was comforting. It felt like he was returning back to someone he had lost.

He emerged in the huge cavern and saw the Stone of Destiny in the middle. Next to it, he saw the body of the Lizard Man. It was desiccated, as though it had lain there for years, even though it was just one week. The stone underneath his body glowed with red light, but it looked dormant.

Jem went closer and, as though sensing his presence, the stone flared up. He felt an almost irresistible pull from the stone, an overwhelming desire to touch it. But he had been warned, and even if he had not, he could see that it would be prudent to keep a safe distance away.

Ragnor had coached him in a simple summoning spell, reasoning that even though Jem had no magical talent, being that close to the stone should enable his words to have some effect. What they wanted most was for Jem's link with Will to have the strongest pull. They were counting on that to extract the bit of Will's soul that was trapped inside the stone. Ultimately, it came down to a matter of who's determination was stronger – Jem's or the stone's.

Jem stood far enough from the stone that its influence was not so strong. There, he took out his stele and drew over his parabatai rune. As the rune flared up, he intoned the spell. The syllables were foreign to him, but he did not stumble over any. With all his might, he thought of Will and reached out with his mind to try to find him.

It was like pushing his way through a crowd in a busy marketplace. Suddenly, the whole cavern seemed like it was full of ghosts. Jem searched desperately, all the while still chanting the spell.

Then, he spotted a little boy, no more than seven years old. He had Will's stormy blue eyes and perpetually messy hair. "Will?" he called.

The boy looked up at him. "You know my name," he said. "Who are you? Have we met? It feels like we have."

"We do know each other," Jem said. "In fact, we're best friends. My name is Jem."

"Are we best friends?" the boy Will asked. "That's nice. I didn't know. There's a lot of things I don't know. I don't know where I am actually. I must have got lost. I tried walking around to find my bearings. But I don't know where I'm supposed to go, so I can't get there."

"You did get lost," Jem said. "I've come to take you home."

"I'd like that," the boy said with a wide smile. Jem's heart ached. He had never seen Will smile like that before – so child-like and innocent. He supposed this was part of Will that his parabatai kept locked away; the part that was so hidden that it was the first to be lost. "Can we go now? It's not very pleasant here. There's so many people. I don't like it."

Jem gave a small smile as he remembered how Will often said he hated how crowded and close London was. Of course his hell would be throngs of people pressing against him constantly. "Of course, we can go," Jem put out his hand for the boy to hold. "Come along." The boy trustingly took his hand and followed as Jem led him away from the Stone of Destiny and to the entrance of the cavern. He faced resistance – the crowd of ghosts seemed to block him at every turn, as though challenging him: "Who are you to take a soul from our realm?"

"I am his parabatai," Jem gritted. "His soul is mine. I mean to take it back." He tightened his grip on the boy's hand.

Jem moved through the ghosts as quickly as he could, weaving through the spaces between them, like he would in a crowded street. He was afraid to look back at the boy. He remembered too well the story of Orpheus, who went to the underworld to get his wife Eurydice, only to lose her when he looked back before she crossed the threshold of that realm. So Jem set his face forward, with the touch of his hand the only assurance that Will's soul was still moving along silently with him.

He made his way down the dark tunnel, through that inky blackness where not even his witchlight could penetrate. At the end of the tunnel, the earth suddenly started to shake violently. Jem was thrown off his feet and he lost his hold on the boy's hand. "No!" he cried in despair. He looked all around him. He was alone in the underground tunnel. "Will! Come back!"

The earth was still shaking. Sand and even bits of rock were raining down around him. But Jem did not move. He felt his parabatai rune flare up again – surely a sign that Will's soul was divided and lost forever. He could not move. He had failed Will and it was too much for him to bear. He made no effort to try to dig himself out but let the earth cover him. As consciousness left him, his only thought was that he would be with Will and his family again soon.

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There was a bright light shining in Jem eyes. He blinked. The light did not go away. Then more things came into focus – curtains, bed posts and furniture. He was in the Institute.

Jem scrambled to his feet. He was home. This all seemed very real and not like being dead at all. He could not understand it. However, he pulled on his dressing gown and dashed out, stumbling a little as he did so. He made his way to Will's room, his anxiety propelling him forward on the familiar route through the large building.

He pushed open the door to the room when he got there. The room was messy, as it always was. Books overflowed off every surface, along with half-full tea cups, bits of food, papers and weapons. The four-poster bed in the middle of the room, however, was distressingly empty.

Jem went to the bed and touched the bedclothes. They were cold – clearly, no one had lain there for some time. Jem fell to his knees, choking on his tears. "No," he whispered. "Will… I'm so sorry."

He stayed there on the floor, sobbing his eyes out. He was so wrapped up in his grief of having lost Will that he did not hear the door open, or the tread of the person who came in and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Jem? What on earth are you doing?"

The voice was so reassuringly familiar that Jem leaped to his feet. "Will!" he exclaimed. His parabatai stood there, staring at him in amusement. "You're alive! You're all right!" He flung himself at Will and hugged him tightly.

"Have they been spreading rumours of my death again? I really must track down who's doing that," Will quipped, though he patted Jem comfortingly on the back. "Though, I must say it's gratifying to know that someone will miss me when I'm gone. Perhaps I should do it more often."

This was so much like Will that Jem threw his head back and laughed in relief. "You're such an idiot, William Herondale," Jem said. "But, by the Angel, don't ever stop being exactly the way you are."

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 **Did you like it? Please leave a review.**


	13. Chapter 13

13.

Jem eventually calmed down and Will helped him up so they could both sit on the bed, leaning against the bed posts and munching on apples that Will fished out of his drawer.

"Ragnor told me what happened," Will said. "About you going back to hell to get me. I don't remember anything really. Just a lot of wandering around in the mist looking for something. Then suddenly I found it, whatever 'it' was, and woke up. According to Ragnor, you must have released my soul and made me whole again."

"So your soul left me and went back to you?" Jem clarified. "If only I knew that. I was terrified. I thought I had lost you when I let go your hand in that earthquake."

"Honestly, James, you had one job!"

"I didn't mean to let go! You must believe me!"

Jem sounded so distressed that Will forgave him immediately and moved on. "Apparently that earthquake was the realm of the dead sealing itself, just like how there was an earthquake when it opened. The mundanes were panicking – a second earthquake in as many weeks! They thought it was the end of the world. But it was good for us. The demon attacks have dropped down to normal levels again."

"Charlotte must be pleased with that," Jem remarked.

"Oh yes. It's business as usual," said Will.

"How did I get back here?" Jem asked.

Will grew serious for a moment. "When I woke up and you didn't come back, Charlotte had Ragnor track you. You were barely alive when they dug you up. But Ragnor worked his magic and revived you. That was three days ago."

"I was unconscious for three days?"

"Not exactly. Ragnor managed to find you three days ago. Before that, you were missing for about two days," Will said. "You had been lying so close to the realm of the dead, practically on the edge of the world, that it was messing up the tracking spells. That's why it took so long to find you. Charlotte kept berating Ragnor about how incompetent he was. He wasn't half annoyed. You should have heard them shouting at each other. Henry had to be called in to stop Charlotte from attacking Ragnor." He let out a small laugh. "I'm glad you're back, though. It was getting dull without you."

"I'm sure you would have found ways to cope."

"It wouldn't be the same," Will assured him. He then stood. "Come on, Carstairs. You've just managed to miss lunch. An apple's no meal for a man who has fought his way out of the realm of the dead. Let's see if Agatha can rustle up something to help you keep body and soul together."

Jem followed his parabatai through the Institute. There was a very big commotion going on. He wondered what it was about, but was quickly informed when they ran into Charlotte, Henry and Sophie, who were all looking very harassed. Charlotte spotted him, gave a loud cry, ran up to him and hugged him tightly. "Jem! We were so worried!" she exclaimed. "When we saw your bed was empty, we feared the worst."

For a very small woman, Charlotte certainly had a very strong grip. Jem squirmed a little in her embrace. "I'm sorry to worry you, Charlotte," he squeaked. She finally let him go and he unconsciously stretched his limbs. "I could think only of Will and rushed to see if he was all right," he explained.

"Next time, give us some advance warning if you decide to go wandering," Henry advised. "All this anxiety and excitement can't be good for any of us."

"I found him in my room," Will interrupted, pushing his way in between Jem and everyone else. "We're going down for some grub. Let the man through. He hasn't had a bite to eat in a week."

Everyone agreed and, in no time, Jem was seated at the table with a large bowl of stew, rolls and salad in front of him. When he had taken the edge off his hunger, he asked: "What happened since I was unconscious? Will said things are back to normal?"

"As normal as can be," Charlotte assured him. "That's thanks to you, of course. If you hadn't gone to retrieve Will's soul, Ragnor would not have been able to close off the realms and stop the demons. Though, I wish you or Ragnor had told us what you were going to do; we could have gone with you. It was so dangerous. You could have been killed."

"I didn't think about the danger, Charlotte," Jem said. "All I wanted was to save Will."

"Ragnor, at least, should have gone with you. I'll be having a word with him about that," Charlotte promised.

"Will's told me you've had many words with Ragnor in the last few days," Jem said slyly.

Charlotte looked askance at Will. "Those were on other matters. This will be entirely about his irresponsibility in letting you – underage and out of your mind with worry over Will – go on that mission alone."

"Oh please, let me be there when you do that," Will asked eagerly. "I'd like to see that stuck-up old goat get his come-uppance."

"That 'stuck-up old goat' is the only reason why you're still alive right now," Jem admonished.

Will shrugged and was about to lean back and put his feet up on the table when he caught sight of Charlotte reaching for her electrum whip. It wouldn't be the first time she used it to cause him to topple off the chair to teach him a lesson about sitting in such an uncouth manner. "Really, Charlotte, is that how you treat a man who has just had a brush with death?" he remarked in a wounded tone.

"You've had five days to recover from your 'brush with death'," she countered. "Since you're hale and hearty now, I see no reason why your training in proper dining room etiquette shouldn't be resumed."

Will pouted then stood. "I'm going to the tavern," he announced.

"Oh no, you're not," Charlotte ordered. "You are going to stay with Jem for the rest of the day and make sure he recovers. Tomorrow, you're both going to

spend the day in the library. You're far behind in your Enochian, and not to mention your Chthonian. It's grammar in the morning and demon lore in the afternoon for the two of you. If I hear any deviation from these plans, you'll be in serious trouble, William. Jem, I'm relying on you to keep order."

Jem nodded. Will let out a long-suffering sigh. "No rest for the wicked," he groaned.

 **THE END**

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 **Well, that's it then. Thanks for reading it all the way to the end.**  
 **Did you guys like it? I hope you did. Leave a review! :)  
**


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